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Cancel it.

Just cancel that shit. I did it about a year ago and I now I wonder why I ever paid to have all that crap piped into my house.

I used to be a big TV watcher, in the winter of 2012-13 I spent a large chunk of time parked on the couch watching sports, movies, series, news.... everything it could mash into my blank face (it was a period of post-break up reflection).

Since I stopped watching TV (not just Sky, all broadcast TV) last May I've rediscovered the joy of reading, of walking, the cinema, I took up running, I started learning guitar. I make up own mind up about current events. I have no fucking idea what the royal family are up to.

I don't understand where I found the time to watch 3 hours of TV a day, twice that on weekends.

I moved into a new flat last May and it wasn't straightforward how I could get an aerial feed into my room. After about 6 weeks I realised I didn't miss TV so I made the leap.

TV is an out-dated medium anyway, like newspapers. Consign it to history.

I still own a smashing Samsung LED TV and indeed still pay the licence fee. I like watching movies and some big series like Breaking Bad and Game of Thrones (although I'm getting bored of the latter) but it adds up to about an hour or two a week. Anything that features Stewart Lee or Charlie Brooker will not be missed.

When I see the news or adverts or the reality shows the style and content is almost indistinguishable from the dystopian broadcasts imagined in Total Recall and RoboCop. It's mental.

So if you want to save money on your TV bill just cancel it. Cancel SKY, bin BT, fuck netflix. It's scary when you think of what you'll do for all those hours. Don't worry. You'll find a hobby, a new passion, rediscover an old one. 

Personally I took up running and I'm in the shape of my life physically and mentally.

Join us.

The key to happiness

Being happy is more or less a personal choice. You don't need to rely on anyone or anything for your happiness.

You ever notice when you run through in your mind an argument you've had (or are planning to have) you can feel yourself getting angry or wound up? You can sense your pulse quicken and that unmistakable well of injustice rising in your belly.

That's you choosing to be angry.

When you think about a terrible tragedy befalling a loved one you can feel the emotions stir, a lump might even form in your throat.

You're choosing to be sad. An imaginary situation is making you feel real emotions.

Try, instead, to make a habit of choosing to be happy. Think about happy memories, imagine yourself surprising a loved one with a gift, day dream amazing scenarios. 

You can also try these things, they all work for me;

• Take the stairs
• Don't smoke
• Walk and run more
• Eat less shitty processed foods
• Don't watch TV
• Sit up straight
• Listen to people
• Don't hold a grudge
• Stop putting that thing off
• Learn a creative skill
• Drink more water
• Take a break from the booze
• Don't make your life about the pursuit of money
• Smile

Easy.

My blog has been viewed

Someone actually read a few posts and now I'm self-concious about what I'm posting.

This is probably something I should get over if I want to become known for what I write.

First day of Spring

Not a cloud in the sky today and it's actually warm therefore Spring is declared OPEN.

I was sitting on the balcony at work catching some sun and my mind wandered to all the springs and summers I wasted in my teens and twenties. Sitting about doing fuck all as if I'd worked hard all winter and had earned a break.

I've suddenly, in my 35th year, become aware of the passing of time and what I've chosen to fill it with. While I occasionally think of the opportunities I've wasted over the years I don't dwell on them. I don't let it affect me because what's important is what I (and you) do from now. This moment right now and all the moments to come are what will define us.

Make them count.

(I've not blogged in ages but I've done a lot since then so I'll catch up. I'll also try and write something every day or so. Some topics are: the new guy at work, the girl I met in California, my business ideas and some bullshit about motivation)

(Who the fuck am I speaking to? Literally no one reads this)

The internet has had its day

There will soon be a generation who see social networking as a shit thing their parents do. Facebook will be the most embarrassing website in world.


Companies will scale back or remove their web-presence and advertise the fact that they are not associated with the internet so they must be very exclusive and aspirational. (Why would they want any schmuck with a computer to be able to get their product?)
The internet will be used only by machines and devices and will be something that runs in the background with little or no conscious interaction from humans.

People will go back to writing letters (they are very hard to hack) and keeping journals.
Almost everything will be attached to the internet. Already your phone, computer,  TV, console, media player, printer, car, camera, picture frame, watch, fridge, book, toys and glasses can be on line.

I started drinking again

Couple of weeks ago I was out on a date and had a single bottle beer (I was driving), it was a good night and I felt fine, well maybe not fine but OK, about my dryathalon ending on 51 days.

Next night I had 4 or 5 beers with my buddy and didn't feel so great but wasn't too broken about being actually drunk for the first time since 28th December 2013.

I was out on a 2nd date the following week and tanned about 5 beers at a comedy club. I was starting to feel that I was back on the booze but justified it by the fact that I liked this girl and it was for the greater good (that being actual sex). 

This past weekend I went out with a friend for snooker on Thursday, dinner and a movie on Friday (different friend), dinner with my parents on Saturday, a post Half Marathon drink on Sunday and finally a wander around town on my day off yesterday. 

Every day has included a few drinks. Not enough to give me a bad hangover or blackouts but enough to accumulate to a point where today I feel miserable and de-motivated.

Fucking hell. I need to stop drinking AGAIN. At least this time I have a target of 51 days dry to beat.

I forgot how expensive booze was, I've gone through shit loads of money in the last two weeks. I've also had some spots come out on my face. Sheesh.

I have a lot of epiphanies these days

I'm not sure why but it seems the last few months my knowledge of shit has changed. I feel like I understand things better; why people do the things they do, why the world is the way it is, what songs are going on about, what it takes to succeed and why we fail. 

For what felt like most of my life there was a lot of shit I just didn't 'get'. I felt I was missing something that everyone else had, like a class I missed at school or a meeting I forgot to attend. I always felt quite naive, I had a simplistic view on the world. I'm not thick but I've never felt streetwise or particularly intuitive. 'Emotionally retarded', might be one way to put it.

I don't think I am that any more.